Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery Wants You To Act Like A Lady

As the bristly Lady Mary on Downton Abbey, Michelle Dockery plays buttoned-up British aristocrat to the hilt. As it turns out, Dockery's not so far from her demure, refined character, at least if you believe a recent interview she did with the Sunday Times Style magazine.

"I do feel nostalgic about that kind of femininity,” she told the magazine, of Lady Mary's reserved ways and penchant for propriety (certain trysts with Mr. Pamuk notwithstanding).

Case in point: "Someone noticed early on that Laura [Carmichael, who plays Lady Edith] and I sat with our hands clasped when we weren’t eating, whereas others were sitting like this,” she said, and then splayed herself out across the table. "So maybe something has rubbed off.”

The series' fourth season premiered in the UK on Sunday (the US will have to wait until January). Viewers are itching to catch up with the newly-widowed Lady Mary and her infant son.

Of course, the 1910s and '20s did have their downsides. “Doctors and dentists today I much prefer,” Dockery added. “And I love washing machines.” But that hasn't stopped her from waxing nostalgic for the character and the time. "There is nothing gratuitous about it," she said of Downton's sartorial style. "You never see any flesh. But then I’ve never been the sort of girl who shows off my curves.” (Telegraph)

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